Paul Blackburn got the A’s within three outs of finally ending their two-week long losing streak. They came up one out short.
After Blackburn turned in the best performance of his breakout season, allowing four hits in eight shutout innings, the A’s bullpen saw it all to fall apart in the bottom of the ninth inning in Cleveland as the Guardians rallied for all of their runs and a 3-2 win at Progressive Field to extend Oakland’s season-high losing streak to 10 games.
The A’s hadn't lost 10 straight since the middle of the 2011 season.
These A’s had blown 2-0 leads in the three previous games — and a 4-2 advantage a night earlier against the Guardians — but seemed to finally have things in hand when Blackburn departed after throwing 101 pitches. But closer Dany Jimenez surrendered a homer to Jose Ramirez to lead off the ninth, and then issued a walk and gave up a double. Following an intentional walk to load the bases, Owen Miller tied the score with a sacrifice fly to center. Two batters later, the Guardians walked off the win with a sacrifice fly off reliever Sam Moll.
Blackburn, a right-hander, appeared to have been just what the A’s needed to end what was their second nine-game losing streak of the season. A little over a month ago, Blackburn and two relievers held the Tigers to four hits in a 2-0 victory to snap that nine-game skid.
That Blackburn, who is 5-2 with a 2.31 ERA this season, was nearly the stopper again in Cleveland shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. Nine of the All-Star candidate’s 12 starts this season have followed an A’s loss, and the team has won six of those games.
Seth Brown homered with two outs in the first inning and Sean Murphy homered with two outs in the second to provide the A’s their fourth 2-0 lead in four games.
Blackburn, similar to the A’s, has done some of his best work of the season on the road. Oakland (20-40) is 13-17 away from the Coliseum. Blackburn lowered the league’s second-best road ERA to 1.14. He is 3-0 in six road starts.
The Guardians opened the four-game series on Thursday night with 14 hits, but Blackburn mostly avoided potential big trouble.
Blackburn worked out of a first-and-third, one-out jam in the first inning, but retired the side in order in five innings and didn’t get a hit off him after Ramirez’ double with two out in the sixth.
The eight innings pitcher was a season-high for Blackburn, who lasted a season-low four innings and allowed season-highs in runs (4) and hits (7) in an 8-0 loss to the Red Sox over the weekend at the Coliseum.
– The A’s had hit two home runs – both by Christian Bethancourt – in their previous nine games before the solo shots by Brown and Murphy off Indians starter Tristian McKenzie on Friday.
Bethancourt did continue his hot streak, doubling in the first after going 3 for 4 on Thursday.
